


i'd take my puppy everywhere

by hullomoon



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Banter, Dogs, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29251923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hullomoon/pseuds/hullomoon
Summary: David's new neighbor has a dog, which would be fine except it keeps ending up in his yard
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 28
Kudos: 143





	i'd take my puppy everywhere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maxbegone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxbegone/gifts).



> Happy Birthday maxbegone! It's been a joy to get to know you this past year and your fic is always such a delight to read. Here's a little something for all that you do. 
> 
> Daisy is based on my childhood dog because I'm sentimental but also didn't want to come up with anything else
> 
> Title of the fic comes from The Puppy Song by Harry Nilsson

David grunted as lifted up the box. He peered down to glance at the sticky note affixed to the top.  _ Books (Fucking Heavy).  _ He rolled his eyes. That's what he got for having Stevie label his boxes. 

He turned around and saw a dog sitting a foot away in the grass, tail wagging. They had short pale yellow hair and a bright orange collar. He sighed, so they had an owner, that's a good sign. 

"Hello," David said slowly. 

The dog stood up and gave a quick bark. 

David turned his head. If he ignored the dog it would ignore him, right? He took a few steps forward and then felt something rub against his legs. A quick look down confirmed it was the dog. From this view, he saw a dark golden, reddish strip of hair along their back. 

"If you could just move that would be great."

The dog gave another bark and ran over to the front door and sat down looking at David expectantly. 

David sighed, his arm muscles burning as he  _ still _ was caring the fucking heavy box. "I don't know what you want from me."

"Daaaaasiyyyyy. Where are you?"

The dog's ears perked up and she rocketed away, running past David. 

He turned his head to see the dog, apparently, Daisy, jump on a man who laughed and pet Daisy's head. 

The man walked toward David, Daisy trotting along next to him. As he got closer David realized, uh, the man looked good. 

He wore a pair of well-worn jeans, boots, and a flannel rolled up to the elbows, the buttons undone enough to show the wide expanse of his neck. A smear of dirt on one cheek, a few errant curls plastered to his forehead, and a loose, happy smile on the stranger made David feel a slight pull of arousal. 

"Do you want a hand?"

David pulled his thoughts away from the idea of what the man looked like with kiss swollen lips and a flushed face. "Wha-What?"

The man nodded at the box in his hands. "Do you want some help?"

David nodded. "Yes, please."

The man took the box, and David's eyes traveled to his forearms. "Where does this go."

"Inside. I-It goes inside."

The man headed into the house allowing David to sneak a glance at his ass as he walked past him. 

He followed the man into the house and stopped when he heard a noise in the kitchen. 

Fuck. 

David ducked into the kitchen but was too late to stop the stranger from meeting Stevie. Who seemed to be giving her a quick hug???

Stevie caught David's eyes and smirked. "So I see you've met Patrick."

Oh, so this was Patrick. 

Stevie had lived in Schitt's Creek all of her life except the one year when she moved to New York and subsequently met David. When she realized New York wasn't for her she returned to Schitt's Creek, where at some point Patrick had moved to. 

Stevie claimed that Patrick was the epitome of the boy next door and told David what he thought were exaggerated stories. He's not sure about that now. 

Patrick turned to David and gave him a small, upside-down smile, and stretched out his hand. 

"Patrick Brewer and I'm guessing your David?"

He took Patrick's hand and felt the light callouses. 

"Anything that Stevie's told you about me is wrong."

Patrick laughed. David kind of wanted to bottle that laugh or find another way to tease it out. 

"Sorry about Daisy by the way. I was gardening and she slipped out. She loves meeting new neighbors."

"Neighbors?" David said with a slightly strangled voice. 

Patrick put his hands deep into his pockets. "Yeah, I live in the cottage down the end of the road."

"You mean the one that looks like Kate Winslet's cottage in  _ The Holiday _ ?"

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "I guess? I've never watched it before."

"Well, we're going to have to fix that soon."

"Sounds like a plan David."

"Am I invited too?"

They turned to look at Stevie who they'd been ignoring for the past few minutes. 

"No, you talk during movies," David hissed. 

"I should probably go," Patrick said. 

"Are sure," David replied, a tinge of hopefulness in his voice. 

"Yeah, I still have that gardening to get to. The weeds don't just pull themselves."

David scrunched his nose at the thought of dirt on his hands. "Good luck."

"Thanks, David." Patrick smiled one last time and with a wave, he was gone. 

Stevie sidled up to David and poked his side. "So, Patrick."

"What about him?"

"Do you like him?"

He walked away from her and blindly grabbed a box and sat it on the kitchen counter. "What's there to like? He enjoys manual labor and has an overeager dog."

"And helps strangers all while looking hot."

"I guess if that's your thing," David murmured. 

"I think it's your thing," Stevie snarked back. 

"Okay, you're paying for dinner because of that."

Stevie cackled and started walking away.

\---

David stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. It was just a meeting to file the incorporation papers, he could do this. He opened the door and walked through to see a photo shoot in session with the couple in the most awkward pose he had seen. 

The photographer turned to him and smiled. "Hello, I'm Ray! What are you here for? Real estate, photography, or business?"

"I'm here to file my incorporation papers?"

"Oh, that'll be Patrick." Ray stepped into another room. "Patrick, your eleven o'clock is here."

Patrick? For a moment David's thoughts flicked to Patrick from yesterday. Surely it wasn't the same one? 

Then, Patrick strode through the doorway and held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again David.”

David took his hand and let his eyes sweep up and down Patrick’s body. He wore a blue button-up and a tighter fit of jeans with a braided belt. “Is that a braided belt?” he blurted out.

Patrick laughed and let go of David’s hand. “Yes. Typically one wears a belt so their pants stay up.”

“Or just wear pants that fit.”

Patrick sat down and smiled. “I’ll think about that next time I buy a pair. Now, I heard that you leased the general store.”

David sat down on the seat across from Patrick, hands placed on his thighs. “Why didn’t you mention this,” he waved his hands around the room, “yesterday?”

Patrick pulled a piece of paper and a pen out. “I usually don’t tell people about my occupation until the second time I meet them. You’re right on schedule.”

“I imagined you in something more...agricultural.”

“Sorry to disappoint you David but I’m just a business consultant.”

The rest of the meeting went alright, except for the moment when David assumed Patrick thought he had a bad business idea. Patrick clarified it wasn’t bad, he just needed to decide on what he wanted the business to be. He handed David the form and told him to come back whenever he filled it out. He returned to the house he shared with Stevie. 

He still wasn’t used to how quiet everything was. Being alone wasn’t new, he’d done it for most of his adult life, no it was the quiet that messed with his head and made it hard to concentrate. A loud series of barks broke the silence. He tried to fill out his form but the barking outside made it impossible. With a groan, he got up from the couch and slipped on a pair of shoes.

David opened the door to be greeted by Daisy, her leash trailing behind her.

“You’re gonna be in trouble when Patrick finds you.”

She barked and nosed at David’s hand. 

“Ew, don’t do that.” He pulled his hand away from Daisy’s nose and ended up grazing her head. It was softer than he expected and if the little tail wag was an indicator, she liked it. He gave her another pat on the head and reached down to grab the end of her leash.

“I think it’s time for you to head home.”

He refused to have a pet inside of his car and he didn’t have Patrick’s number so that meant a walk. Daisy didn’t seem to mind. She moved up and down the road and sniffed at almost everything in sight. There was one moment when David almost lost his hold on the leash when she chased after a squirrel. As they walked around the bend, the cottage in sight, he saw Patrick running toward them.

He pulled up to a slow jog and stopped, breath heavy, a small v of sweat forming along his chest. “We’ve got to stop meeting this way,” he breathed out.

David handed the leash over to Patrick. “Have you thought of a stern lecture for her?” He tilted his head toward Daisy who nudged at Patrick’s jacket pocket.

Patrick smiled. “She just ignores me.” He turned toward her and knelt down so they were eye to eye. “You can’t have any of the biscuits you ran away again.” She responded by licking his cheek. David winced. Patrick pulled his sleeve out and wiped the spit away and stood up.

“Hey, so I thought more about your business plan and I think I know what you mean.”

David raised a brow. “You do now?”

“Uh, yeah. I thought maybe you could come to my place and we could talk about it? I mean you’re basically there already.”

David felt a warmth deep in his belly. “Sure.”

\---

A small thump and then a light pressure on his feet woke David up. “Uhhh, Patrick your dog is on the bed again.”

A line of heat moved to his back and arms gripped his shoulders. “I like how when she misbehaves she’s my dog.”

David turned around and burrowed his head in the crook of Patrick’s neck. “She was yours before we got together.”

A bark interrupted their discussion and the little sleep that David had clung to disappeared. He lifted his head up to see Daisy laid out on the foot of their bed looking proud of herself with a toy rope in her mouth. 

“Fine.” He got up from the bed and slipped into his Uggs. Daisy trailed behind him as he opened the outside door to let her out. He sat down on the swing in their enclosed porch as he watched her run around the yard a couple of times. The smell of coffee filled his nose and he looked over to see Patrick awake and holding out a mug to him.

“You are a lifesaver.” He grabbed the mug and took a sip. 

Patrick pressed a kiss to David’s forehead. “Happy anniversary babe.” 

David turned to press a kiss to Patrick’s cheek. “I thought we weren’t doing babe.”

“Alright, then what about sweetheart? Snookums? Cutie pie?”

“I’m divorcing you, you horrible, horrible man.” David pulled Patrick toward him and into a kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked this i'm [hullomoon](http://hullomoon.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


End file.
